Central Square is eatin’ good tonight.
On the menu this evening (August 30) at Sonia in Cambridge is a heaping buffet of bars from Cakeswagg, who toasts the recent release of her sophomore album Michelin Star alongside DJ WhySham. It’s a moment the Roxbury rapper has been cooking up since she implored fans to “hold the applause and celebrations ’til the work’s finished” on her single “Big Plays”.
Now, as Cakeswagg plates her poetry at Sonia, it’s finally time to dig in — and dole out the praise.
The 15-track project varies the Roxbury rapper’s often-confectionary palate, folding new flavors into the mix: The chewy exclamation “Move Bitch,” metallic bruiser “Shots Fired,” dripping-with-sauciness “Kamikaze.” Guest chefs MARQUISE! (fka OG Swaggerdick) and Gio Dee sprinkle in some outside attitude on “Bad Bitch Link Up” and “Flutes.” When experimenting with her tastes, Cakeswagg skips bitterness outright, even when pondering her own winding path to acclaim.
“How many nos before yeses? / How many spoiled investment? / How many times did we knock on them doors that just opened with lessons / When we was just looking for blessings?” she asks on the title track, tired but undeterred. Her hunger for leveling up is the record’s savory binding agent — and proves that even when Cakeswagg’s spitting about not-so-sweet situations, the music is still a real treat.
CAKESWAGG + DJ WHYSHAM :: Friday, August 30 at Sonia, 10 Brookline St. in Cambridge :: 7 p.m., 21+, $25 :: Advance tickets